Probably The Only Lemonade Stall [Concluded]

[ScratchThat]

Shawnie laughed about the comment about snails, before then remembering Coffea's apparent discomfort around animals. But looking at the kestrel - which was happily snuggled into the coffee pony's mane - she almost knew for sure that that was gonna change sometime soon. Staring at it a moment longer, Shawnie couldn't help but admire how beautiful the mighty bird was. It looked like it'd be a strong and good flier, which made Shawnie feel quite sorry for the poor thing. He probably wanted to fly desperately.

"I'm sorry, I just kinda..." Shawnie trailed off, shrugging. "My house is in the opposite direction, so I guess I was heading there by mistake." Shaking her head, still rather embarrassed about it, she trotted quickly to catch up to Coffea, not wanting to cause some sort of disturbance again. When the older mare raised herself up into the sky with a quick flitter of her wings, Shawnie couldn't help but feel slightly envious, an unusual feeling for the filly, who seemed so happy with herself in almost every way. Mumbling something inaudible, she decided to forget about this, her attention once more turning to the kestrel, who now had his eyes open. He was probably glad to be above ground, Shawnie realised. "So," she started, trotting along and following Coffea, not seemingly put off by the fact that her house was near the Everfree Forest. "What are you going to name him? Or... her?" The bird appeared to look more masculine that feminine, but she supposed with birds - unless you were a vet or something - identifying exactly which gender they were must be pretty difficult. "...Do you think he'd allow me to draw him?" She asked suddenly, completely out of the blue. Shawnie couldn't help once again thinking that the bird was a beautiful and majestic looking creature, and the thought of drawing it made her feel somewhat important and involved. But most of all, she just wanted to draw a scene capturing the bird in flight!

[Zazzy]

Coffea laughed lightly, her focus trying to regain her sense if balance. The kestrel seemed to have somewhat put herself off; she was strong enough to carry him - it was no heavier than a kitten - but her wings seemed to have lost a little bit of control, what with the sudden weight on her back. The pegasus hovered over a spot on the ground for a few moments, 'finding the place where everything connects' - a common quote her flight teachers said. Although it was rather vague and not very useful at first, Coffea had begun to use those particular words as a life motto in flying.

She heard Shawnie mumbling, but didn't press her for what she was saying. If the filly wanted to keep those words inaudible, then inaudible it would be. Coffea's back was stiff and she couldn't help but flinch when the kestrel made a movement. She had some degree of sympathy for the bird and had only let him sit on her back because the bird seemed injured, if not severely. "I'm not going to name the kestrel," Coffea said in answer to Shawnie's question. She avoided using 'him' or 'her' towards Shawnie, bearing in mind the bird wasn't actually hers, "The kestrel belongs in the wild, so once he's been healed and approved by a doctor or vet, I'll be sending...the kestrel back into the wild." Coffea scratched her neck a little awkwardly, realising that taking in the bird might have been too rash. She didn't know how to heal a bird and what they eat, heck, she didn't even know where they liked to sleep! The pegasus made up her mind to research and call up the nearest free vet to ask what to do. She doubted there were any vets in Ponyville - well, she didn't know any vets in Ponyville. 

"Huh?" Coffea looked at Shawnie again. She looked back at the corner of her eye to the kestrel, then back, "I guess so. I mean, he's obviously not going anywhere else, is he?" She could see her house now; the pegasus slowly lowered herself to the ground and folded her wings in the most uncomfortable way possible, "Well, here we are." 

Coffea opened the the door and stepped inside, wiping her hooves on the doormat and stepping to the side to let Shawnie in. They were in the café; after all, having a café in either the second or third floors would be quite a hustle. 

[ScratchThat]

Biting her lip a little sheepishly, she couldn't help but think she should've seen that coming. I mean, why would Coffea - a mare who presumably only took the bird in as a distraction to get out of a tough situation - want to name him? Or her? "I guess." She responded blankly, blinking her eyelids once and trying to think of how to change the subject, but Coffea had already continued.

"Sweet!" The filly spoke with a reasonable about of emotion the second time round, clearly happy about the prospect of sketching the kestrel. It suddenly hit Shawnie that if she'd been the one to take the bird in, she would've got far too attached. He was gorgeous. The spots on his wings and the light tan colour of his feathers would make a beautiful colour palette, and once again images of what the finished painting may look like flashed through the filly's mind. Don't get too excited, she thought to herself. Things never look as good as how you imagine them. Whilst this made the filly frown some and glance at the ground, she knew it was all too true.

Now, looking at the ground isn't always the best idea - especially when you're meant to be going into somepony's house, which requires you to actually look at where you're going. Shawnie, however, was not abiding by these rules. As soon as Coffea announced that they'd arrived, Shawnie's head shot up, but it was too late, and she hit it on the front door, sending her stumbling backwards a few paces. "Ouch!" Shawnie spat, rubbing her head and cursing under her breath. "Gah, I'm sorry." She apologised, trotting in quickly after Coffea, the injured area on her head still stinging, but she did her best to ignore this. Not even seeing the doormat - something which admittedly she should've been looking down for - the filly's hooves were still muddy and dusty from the market, and she gasped when she noticed that the dust was now spreading across the floor of Coffea's cafè in muddy chunks.

Alarmed, the filly blurted out another "I'm sorry!", mentally scolding herself afterwards. She should've just kept quiet! ...But then she'd feel really guilty, wouldn't she? Frowning, she hoped Coffea wouldn't be angry with her, but as she gazed around the house, these thoughts whizzed into the back of her mind. If not they were forgotten altogether. It was quite the lovely looking cafè! "This place is sweet!" Shawnie exclaimed, before cocking a brow. "Did'ja design it yourself or something?" Coffea had awesome taste in architecture and design if she had! The stinging in her head now completely gone, the filly looked from wall to wall, her eyes wide as she took everything in.